Advancing American Indian Art Remembering Our Indian School Days: The Boarding School Experience You have selected the Remembering Our Indian School Days: The Boarding School exhibition for your class tour. This important topic is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the history of the United States. Since the spaces comfortably accommodate only small groups of visitors, your group will need to be divided into groups of 12 to 15 students. The guides will take groups into the gallery at approximately fiveminute intervals. This exhibition is entitled The Board School Experience and we intend for each and every visitor to have an experience in the gallery. This is not a display of artifacts, although there are materials in each section. The story of this exhibit is not revealed by discussing the artifacts; it is the overall feeling and impressions of the visitor that are important. Your guide will give an orientation to the group, then direct them to enter and experience the exhibit. In a space towards the end of the gallery, your guide will re-join the group and lead a discussion about what the students have seen heard and felt. Enclosed in the packet are some word games for students, which serve as a review of the exhibit. An Educational Highlights of U.S. Indian History summary is provided for you as well as a list of definitions.
Educational Highlights of U.S. Indian History 1500s Mission school open to Christianize the indigenous peoples of the Americas through education. 1720 First permanent Indian School opens in Williamsburg, Virginia. 1775 First Continental Congress assumes control over Indian affairs. 1777-1787 Articles of Confederation recognize tribes as sovereign nations. 1794 The U.S. government signs the first treaty to include education provisions with the Oneida, Tuscarora, and Stockbridge tribes. 1823 The Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) is created within the War Department. 1834 Sixty schools are established by various religious organizations, and by the Indians themselves, with nearly 2,000 children enrolled. U.S. Congress passes the Department of Indian Affairs Act. 1849 The OIA is transferred to the newly developed Department of the Interior and renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). 1879 The first off-reservation Indian boarding School opens in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and is funded by the federal government through the Department of War. 1884 Chiloco Industrial School, Chiloco, Oklahoma; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas; and the Pueblo Industrial School, Albuquerque, New Mexico established. 1891 Indian Schools Act provides for the construction of Indian industrial schools modeled after Carlisle Indian Industrial School. 1893 U.S. troops forcibly gather Hopi children and punish their parents for resisting forced education. 1897 Education Appropriation Act is passed. Congress mandates priority funding to Indian day and industrial schools over sectarian schools. 1901-1910 Uniform Course of Study for the Indian Schools of the United States; a standardized American Indian boarding school curricula that promoted the Dignity of labor, is adopted. Developed by Estelle Reel, superintendent of Indian schools, the course also promoted vocational training. 1911 The U.S. Army forcibly enters the Hopi village of Hotevilla and captures 69 children to attend boarding school. 1906-1914 The first culture-based art education program is taught by Winnebago artist Angel de Cora at Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 2
1924 The General Citizens Act is passed by Congress, which grants all Indians the rights of citizenship including the right to vote in federal elections but not all state elections. 1928 The Meriam Report is released, condemning the boarding school system, drawing attention to the conditions on the reservations, and chastising the federal government s failure with its Indian policies. It calls for a more effective administration of Indian programs in education, health, and economic development, stating, [T]he provisions for the care of Indian children in boarding schools are grossly inadequate. Deficiencies were noted in the children s diet, overcrowded dormitories, substandard medical service and over-working of students to maintain the schools. 1930 The BIA creates the Education Division. The U.S. Senate Investigating Committee reveals systematic kidnapping of Indian children by Indian school officials. 1932 The federal government begins promoting Indian art programs at the schools. The Santa Fe Indian School leads with the opening of The Studio, a fine art program. 1933-1950 Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, embarks upon a reform program that became known as the Indian New Deal. Appointed by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Collier promoted self-governance and self-determination, along with cultural and religious freedom for tribes. 1934 The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), also known and the Wheeler-Howard Act, passes and provides for tribal political self-governance and economic self-determination. Indian tribes can create constitutions and by-laws using Western models for tribal governments. Provisions are made for vocational training and economic development. Congress passes the Johnson-O Malley Act, which permits the tribes to contract with states, territories, corporations, private institutions, agencies and political subdivisions to provide education and other services and repeals the General Allotment Act. 1936 The Indian Arts and Crafts Board Act is established to promote economic development among Indian tribes and Indian wards of the government. 1950 BIA survey estimates that there is no school training of any kind for 19,300 Indian children. 1950s Relocation policy supports vocational training for adults (18-25) and effectively forces thousands of Indians to leave their communities for larger urban centers to find jobs. Although the program is successful for some individuals, it proves disastrous for others. 1953 The Indian School Property Act authorizes the transfer of no longer needed federal Indian land and school facilities to state and local government agencies. Congress initiates the Termination Resolution, a plan to end all legal obligations of the federal government to Indian tribes. 1962 Institute of American Indian Arts is established as the only federally funded art school for Indians in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1966 216 BIA Boarding schools are still in operation within the United States. 3
1967 The National Indian Education Advisory (NIEA) Committee is established. 1968 Congress passes the American Indian Civil Rights Act, conferring specific civil rights to all persons subject to the jurisdiction of tribes and authorizes the federal courts to enforce these rights. 1969 U.S. Senate releases the report, Indian Education: A National Tragedy, A National Challenge. 1970 The Indian Elementary and Secondary Education Act passes, which extends programs to elementary and secondary education. 1971 The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Harvard University s Center for Law and Education release a report charging gross misuse of funds designated for the benefit and education of Indian children. [B]y any standard, Indians receive the worst education of any children. 1972 The Indian Education Act (also known as Title IV) passes. 1975 The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act provides a transition from federal domination to Indian control of education. 1978 The Department of Education is established as a cabinet-level agency originally intended to include Indian education programs. By 1979, however, it is determined that the BIA s education programs will be administered separately. Congress passes the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to protect and preserve the inherent right of freedom to believe, express and exercise traditional religions for American Indians. 1988 The Termination Act of 1953 is repealed. 1990 The White House Conference on Indian Education is held to examine the feasibility of establishing an independent Indian Board of Education. At this time there are 182 BIA funded schools still in operation. The Native American Language Act passes to preserve, protect and promote the practice and development of Native languages. Phoenix Indian High School in Phoenix, Arizona, closes after 99 years in operation. 4
Definitions of some terms in the exhibition Acculturate Assimilate Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Friends of the Indians Indian Wars Manifest Destiny Reform Movement Reservations The transfer of a culture from one ethnic group to another. A major thrust in acculturating Indians to become American citizens was through education by completely separating Indian children from their home environments and forcing them to adopt European-centric ways. The drive to make Indians similar to mainstream Americans by changing their customs, language, religion, dress and occupations. Assimilationist policy was dominant in the latter part of the 19 th and early part of the 20 th centuries. (Also historically known as the Indian Bureau, Indian Office, Indian Service and Indian Desk) This government department is responsible for administering the United States overall relationship with the tribes. Each tribe, depending on its history, treaties and applicable congressional laws, maintains a separate and unique relationship with the United States. Christian reformers who met annually during the last two decades of the 19 th century at the Lake Mohonk Conference, and whose goals was to guide the Indian, from the night of barbarism into the fair dawn of Christian civilization. The conflicts between Euro-Americans and American Indians from earliest contacts to the second decade of the 20 th century. American s national policy, c. 1840, which was guided by the belief that the right to acquire territorial sovereignty, ocean to ocean, was backed by divine providence. American settlement advanced under the legacy of Manifest Destiny and was in direct conflict with American Indian s belief in the right to maintain their lifeways with the backing of their creator. The resulting conflict was the primary cause for the Indian Wars. In the last decades of the 19 th century, various associations (i.e., Indian Rights Association, Women s National Indian Association) dedicated their efforts to eradicating tribalism by implementing a three-prong approach: 1. To break up reservations into individual parcels of land 2. To make Indians subject to United States law and ultimately become American citizens 3. To educate Indian children The placement of Indian tribes on segregated lands, in use since America s Revolutionary days, was accomplished by treaty, acts of Congress or Executive Order of the President of the United States. As part of American expansion, removal of American Indians from their traditional lands became official policy with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. 5
Crossword Fill in the crossword puzzle using the clues 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 Across 1. The motto of the Boarding School was: Kill the, and save the man. 2. The Indian Board Schools were initially under the control of the Department of. 3. Indian students were forced to speak, and were punished for speaking their own language. 4. The first federally sanctioned Indian Boarding School was founded in 1879 in, Pennsylvania. 5. Capt. Richard H. started the first Indian Boarding School. 6. Historically, two groups of people in the United States, and Indians, were not allowed to attend white schools. Down 1. The Indian Boarding School was a significant cause of the Pan-Indian and movement. 2. The doctrine of Destiny meant that American felt it had the right to take Indian land. 3. Wars against Indians forced tribes to live on 4. The program placed students in white homes so they could see how civilized people lived. Select your answers from the following words: English Pratt War Blacks Indian Intertribal Manifest Reservations Carlisle outing 6
Word Search Find the names of 21 Indian Boarding Schools H A M P T O N A E R O R R M F L S H E R M A N S O U D L T G L K E M R M L W C V G T P T W E A Q Q I H A S K E L L Y X D A N N S U K T C Q G R E A S E W O O S T O H D F H I X W L Z I C I A R Y Y A I U B I S M A R K A R S E V A N L Z Q B N Z N G D R I J A E H E K O K S A L C M T L V S U P V T O N K I H C E O W I E T L J I H N F C S I P O F L S R J C Y N R B O X S C F I N T L S O I U O C O C H E M A W A E E I H N H F T N M I T U K F Z Y X D N A J R E B W T O A D L E N A E S S H L P H O E N I X X T I W T Z H E Search for the following words Bismark Carlisle Genoa Sequoyah St. Johns Collins Dilkon Sherman Flandreau Phoenix Greasewood Chemawa Riverside Hampton Toadlena Aneth Haskell Sisseton Chinle Bacone Oglala 7
Match the dates with the correct sentence 1. The first off-reservation Indian Boarding School opens in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. a. 1928 2. Manifest Destiny becomes America s national policy. b. 1990 3. The Indian Education Act, also known as Title IV, passes. c. 1924 4. The Native American Language Act is passed to preserve, protect and promote the practice and development of Native Languages. d. 1978 5. Congress passes the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. e. 1933 6. Congress adopts the Termination Policy, designed to end all legal obligations of the federal government to Indian tribes. 7. Congress passes the General Citizens Act making all Indians citizens with the right to vote in federal elections. f. 1990 g. 1968 8. Congress passes the American Indian Civil Rights Act. h. 1972 9. The Meriam Report condemns the boarding school system, calling it a failure of government Indian policy. 10. Phoenix Indian High School in Phoenix, Arizona, closes after 99 years in operation. i. 1879 j. 1953 11. The Office of Indian Affairs is created within the War Department. k. 1934 12. The Institute of American Indian Arts is established in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is the only federally funded art school for Indians. 13. John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, initiates the Indian New Deal. 14. The Indian Reorganization Act provides for tribal political self-government and economic self-determination. l. 1962 m. 1823 n. 1840 8